


into the light we're fading

by kimaracretak



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Beginnings, Developing Relationship, F/F, Nature Imagery, Pre-Canon, Referenced past character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 12:00:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10019897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimaracretak/pseuds/kimaracretak
Summary: (from darkness i stepped / onto the path of stars): Keyleth thinks of the sun burning through Zephra's mists, of summer's scalding delirium, and resolves to watch. She is a sharp wary thing on the edges of the group now, and though she knows herself to be unkind she is secure in her loyalties to her people and her land, and she cannot help but think their little group has gained two members in Pike rather than just the one.Or; Keyleth, Pike, and the lights of a beginningPart ofCritrole Femslash Fest 2k17





	

**Author's Note:**

> title from kamelot, 'fallen star', summary quote from amorphis, 'sky is mine'

In Zephra, Keyleth chases the stars when they fall. It is one of the few childish pleasures still allowed her as she begins to train for her Aramente, to stand at cliff's edge and plummet, arms outstretched, to be lifted and spun round by the elementals that love and serve and never leave.

She feels like air, those nights, like the wind has swept into her mouth and bones and blood and hollowed her out until she could hold all her city within her insubstantial body. Suspended above Zephra, in the nothing that will never be void, Keyleth holds out her hands to burning lights that streak through the sky and never come quite near enough to test the solidity of her body, the firmness of her grip.

They are not for her, not yet. Maybe they never will be, she thinks, and the doubt in her heart waxes and wanes with the trails of fire.

(The stars fade as she walks down the mountains, trees that could never survive in Zephra reaching up for the skies with strong branches overflowing with leaves, and under the darkened canopy Keyleth sleeps uneasy.)

 

**

 

Pike _glows,_ unnatural and divine and radiating a kindness that Keyleth loathes and aspires to in equal measure. She wears her holy symbol proudly, though she does not preach, and for that at least Keyleth is grateful.

The group falls in love with her immediately, this healer with her soft hazy light. Keyleth thinks of the sun burning through Zephra's mists, of summer's scalding delirium, and resolves to watch. She is a sharp wary thing on the edges of the group now, and though she knows herself to be unkind she is secure in her loyalties to her people and her land, and she cannot help but think their little group has gained two members in Pike rather than just the one.

Keyleth will respect those who earn her respect, natural or divine or neither, but she is not sure what to do with one who _needs_  her god.

(Firelight refracts off Pike's armour during shared watches, torchbug-bright sparks that linger too long in empty air as Pike smiles and smiles like the daytime sun, and Keyleth's hands ache to grab hold of them.)

 

**

 

Pike proves herself, in battle and friendship both. Keyleth tries not to think too much about the tendrils of divine energy that cling to her like rainclouds that have overstayed their welcome, focuses instead on the ever deepening affection in Pike's eyes every time she heals them and tries not to flinch as the still-unfamiliar healing crawls over her skin.

 _Do you trust me?_ Pike asks one day when Keyleth is covered in giant blood and will not lie _still_ , the closest to frustrated that Keyleth has ever seen her.

Keyleth bites her lip, thinks of Pike throwing herself headfirst into battle. _I don't trust your god,_  she says, and it is honest, if not quite an answer.

 _Oh,_  Pike says, and her hands gentle on Keyleth's skin, the warmth seems more solid now, like it's Pike's and not something absently divine. _Oh, well, I suppose that's fair._

(Falling was never like this back home, never demanded so much thought of the landing and the lights that would guide you down and smile as they floated along with, and Keyleth feels something loosening inside her as she stares up at Pike now.)

 

**

 

Keyleth dreams of Pike's torn body, after. She wakes with silent screams and an aching midsection in the hammocks she strings as high in the trees as she can climb and folds herself nearly in half with tears.

She had never thought to be afraid of death before, content in the knowledge that it would only ever feed more life. Then again, she supposes, she'd never really had friends before.

The Earth Ashari are meant to be a different sort of homecoming, a different sort of family, but all they grant is dreams of another death. Through flower-clouded eyes she watches her friends deal vengeance for her; through flower-twisted roots she drinks the blood their love spills for her. In the centre there is Pike, a light for all the rest, and when the last blow is dealt she turns to Keyleth and smiles, violent and sad and —

— _oh._

(The stars are so far away now, and for the first time the distance twists at Keyleth's heart like a physical thing strangling around her neck, and though she does not pray she drags her fingertips through every river she crosses and wonders if they will carry her feelings to Pike on the ocean.)

 

**

 

Keyleth is not waiting at the docks for Pike's ship to return. She is there only for the ocean breeze, for the vast horizon of possibility that can swallow up her fever dreams of death and replace them all with the cool comfort of the waves' embrace.

She is not a very good liar, even when it is only herself she is trying to convince.

The _Broken Howl_ docks on a midsummer's day when sunlight dances on the water and Keyleth's cheeks are pink from heat. She sees Pike immediately, her hair an unmistakable and blinding shock of white against the grimy canvas of the sails, and Keyleth is so dizzy with watching her that she doesn't notice her _moving_ , until Pike is in her lap.

There are saltwater constellations drying across Pike's skin, wind-tied love knots in her hair, and Keyleth feels the pull of her just like the tide as their lips meet.

(Later Keyleth will apologise for getting carried away with her welcome, and Pike who has come back harder and more real than ever before will only laugh like sea, and there will be neither gods nor unnamed things between them.)

 

**

 

In Emon the stars do not fall but hang glittering in the sky, twist shining through city streets, reflect in an infinite mirror on the beach, cling mischievously to the corners of Pike's smile.

(When these stars fade, Keyleth will know how to light them again.)


End file.
